Event held to recognize student parents for contributions to University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota Student Parent HELP Center (SPHC), in collaboration with the Student Parent Association (SPA), recently held a Student Parent Visibility Day. At the event, SPHC and SPA recognized the vital contributions that student parents make to the university, and also informed about 200 teen parents from five metro area secondary education programs about the importance of higher education.
The University of Minnesota Student Parent HELP Center (SPHC), in collaboration with the Student Parent Association (SPA), recently held a Student Parent Visibility Day. At the event, SPHC and SPA recognized the vital contributions that student parents make to the university, and also informed about 200 teen parents from five metro area secondary education programs about the importance of higher education.

Kristin Morris, now a human resource development graduate student at the U of M who has a second child, said that she succeeded with the help of the Student Parent Help Center, and graduated with a 3.8 GPA.

Another speaker was Patrice Howard, a student parent who graduated from the U of M. She now works for the Alan Page Foundation. Morris and Howard both encouraged the teen parents, saying that having children should not hinder their pursuit of higher education.

"It is estimated that the University of Minnesota has several thousand student parents in undergraduate and graduate programs, however, relatively few people are aware of it," said student parent Lisa Coleman. "The Student Parent Visibility Day is a campus-wide event that highlights the important contributions that students who are also parents make to our campus and to campuses across the nation."

"This is a wonderful opportunity for U of M student parents to inform this generation of teen parents of the endless opportunities that advanced education holds for them and their young children," said Susan Warfield, director of SPHC.

The event also included a college resource field fair for the visiting teens that included representatives from various U of M programs as well as representatives from metro area colleges such as North Hennepin Community College, St. Catherine’s and Anoka Ramsey Community College.

Pictured: Patrice Howard, U of M graduate and former student parent who now works for the Page Foundation (left), talks about Page Foundation scholarships with AGAPE High School students (left to right): Mai Vang, Cheng Vang and Monica Soto Moreno.